Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill14564
Be aware? Yes. Prepare? Yes. Panic? NO!
As others have pointed out, the Villages is where Tampa goes to escape the storm.
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Maybe your relatives and friends head to the Villages to evacuate. I lived in the St Pete Area for 18 years. When people evacuate they are instructed to head toward places outside of the weather center cone. If you evacuate somewhere inside the cone, you are still going to experience hurricane winds, flooding, and power outages. There is also a possibility that trees and debris will block the roads making it difficult to return home. Not to mention when you arrive to an area further inside the cone, parts of the area may be shut down and gas may be in limited supply. We are instructed to stay off major hwys, if possible, because this will only lead to an enormous traffic jam with the possibility of some running out of gas. No one in 18 yrs ever advised us to evacuate to the Ocala/Villages area.